1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to apparatus and methods in the field of education, and more particularly to apparatus and methods for reading and phonics education.
2. Background Art
There have been numerous systems, devices and methods used in reading and phonics education over the years. Generally, such have included the use of flash cards, workbooks, coloring books, tile pieces, tables, charts, and rotary charts, discs, drums, wheels, or dials. The focus will be on the latter group of devices, which have existed in the art for over a hundred years. For example, the following U.S. patents disclose such rotary devices for educational purposes: U.S. Pat. No. 7,354,070 to Polick (2008); U.S. Pat. No. 6,869,286 to Furry (2005); U.S. Pat. No. 6,358,059 to Li (2002); U.S. Pat. No. 4,643,680 to Hill (1987); U.S. Pat. No. 4,389,193 to Phillips (1983); U.S. Pat. No. 3,460,273 to Boyd (1967); U.S. Pat. No. 2,411,717 to Fay et al. (1946); U.S. Pat. No. 1,671,758 to Appley (1928); U.S. Pat. No. 886,172 to Bevans (1908); U.S. Pat. No. 270,511 to Thomson (1883); and U.S. Pat. No. 259,920 to Reiff (1882). Most of these patents disclose the concept of constructing words using one wheel or section rotated relative to another wheel or section.
The above-identified patent to Li discloses a method and tools for rapid and accurate decoding and encoding of words. Sound units (a combination of blendable letter sounds) are used to accurately decode (read) words. A combination of wheels is utilized to encode (write or make) thousands of words and word-like combinations to learn words and their structures. The above-identified patent to Appley relates to a phonics game to teach the formation of letters into simple words and the effect of final “e” upon a group of letters. The above-identified patent to Boyd discloses a disc containing vowel word fragments (e.g., AT, AR, OT, etc.; FIG. 3) and consonant tab pieces (FIG. 4). The consonant tab pieces (B, C, H, M, P, R, S, V) are clipped onto a rotatable wheel (FIG. 1) and positioned with the vowel fragment to create a family of words (e.g., BAT, CAT, . . . , RAT, etc.).
In addition to constructing words, the above-identified patents to Furry, Phillips, Fay et al., Bevans, and Thomson also present images representing the constructed words. For example, Phillips uses rotating wheels to construct the word B-OAT and shows an image of a boat (see FIGS. 2 & 3). The image and consonant are shown first and then the word is constructed based on the image; the image actually guides the student in constructing the word. The image becomes hidden when the word is constructed (FIG. 3). In Bevans, rotating sections are used to construct the word C-O-W (FIG. 1) and then the word is confirmed by turning the sections over to see a properly constructed image of a cow (FIG. 2). In Thomson, rotating and stationary wheels are used (FIG. 1) for constructing the words D-U-CK, D-O-CK, D-E-CK, etc. There are images of a duck, dock and deck, which guide the student in constructing the words.
There are education tools that employ hidden images or other information, which are ultimately revealed to confirm a correct answer. The above-identified patent to Polick discloses a flap being opened to reveal an image or the correct answer to a multiplication problem set up by a rotating wheel (FIGS. 3 & 4). U.S. Pat. No. 6,648,647 (2003) to Wood et al. discloses a rotating wheel containing both letters and related images (FIG. 3(a)). The wheel is turned to select a letter, such as “A” (see FIG. 1), and three images are presented in windows. The images may be hidden by sliding doors. The student selects the image corresponding to the letter (e.g., an apple) by sliding open the door. U.S. Pat. No. 5,447,439 (1995) to Nathanson discloses a booklet containing sentences that need to be completed (FIG. 1), such as “A is for ——————”. The intended answer is “apple,” and after attempting an answer, the student scratches off the blank area to reveal an apple. U.S. Pat. No. 1,656,030 (1924) to Waring discloses sheets that show different colors or animals to be named and separate name cards to be matched with the colors or animals (FIGS. 5-8). After the matching is done, a flap is opened to reveal the correct match.
There are education tools that employ the concept of matching colors between two items to guide a learning activity. U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,505 (1992) to Walsh discloses different colored groups of clothespins (FIG. 1) being clipped to the rim of a bucket (FIG. 3). Along the rim are defined areas, each of a different color that corresponds to a colored group of clothes-pins. The student clips the clothespin to the proper rim area by matching the color (FIG. 3), which purportedly teaches sequencing and ordering by color. U.S. Pat. No. 4,096,644 (1978) to Nesher et al. discloses a stationary wheel on a board having colored sections. Colored, transparent rotating strips are superimposed on each other to produce a composite color that matches the color of a colored section on the stationary wheel. Color matching guides the student in finding the correct factors of a target number. For example, the target number 28 has factors 2×2×7=28. Thus, two strips having a value of 2 and a strip having a value of 7 will produce the correct composite color.
There are also education apparatus that employ rotating wheels or sections containing unhidden images along with words or letters, for word recognition and pronunciation. U.S. Pat. No. 2,932,909 (1960) to Bosco discloses the concept of matching the first letter or letters of a word with the word itself. For example, a letter “H” is used to guide the student to match the H with the word “House” (FIG. 1). An unhidden image of a house is displayed along side of the word House (FIG. 4). U.S. Pat. Appl. No. 2002/0132218 to White (2002) discloses stacked sections pivotally connected together for pivotal movement about a center axis and carrying a portion of an image, such as a shape, object or color on one side, and educational indicia on the other side illustrating the image. As shown in FIG. 4, an unhidden image of an alligator is displayed along side the word “alligator,” and the section containing only a textual reference to “apple” has a corresponding image on the reverse side of the deployed sections (FIG. 5).
While some of the above-mentioned educational tools and devices have merit and have had some success, some are unduly complicated and boring. Some attempt to provide too much information at one time to children, who typically do not have the attention span to absorb a large amount of information at one time. Others seek to focus on words without visual aid and fail to recognize that visual aid and color have a positive bearing on learning. Accordingly, there still remains a need in the education industry to provide a phonics education tool that is easy to operate, does not require constant supervision from a teacher, is self-guiding and self-verifying, and is inviting and fun for young students. A phonics education tool is needed that encourages a spontaneous and enthusiastic response, just like playing.